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R3 Against White Supremacy

Chicago’s R3 Coalition will hold Rally at Site of White Supremacy in Bronzeville

Saturday, August 19th at 12noon

Stephen A. Douglas Tomb and Monument, 636 E. 35th

Chicago’s social justice community stands in solidarity with the people of Charlottesville. One week ago we witnessed a violent rampage by white supremacists through the campus of University of Virginia and the streets of Charlottesville prompted by the planned removal of a statue paying tribute to the Confederate leader, Robert E. Lee. The terror left one young woman dead and scores injured. These forces have been given encouragement by the racist and xenophobic remarks of the 45th President of the United States.

As a continuation of the protests organized by other groups last weekend, the R3 Coalition (Resist. Reimagine. Rebuild), a progressive coalition of 32 groups, will hold a rally at the controversial Douglas Tomb, 636 E. 35th Street. Douglas was a 19th century Illinois politician who lobbied for the expansion of slavery while owning a 3000 acre cotton plantation in Lawrence County Mississippi with over 123 enslaved people. After garnered great wealth from his family’s human chattel he then provided the initial land endowment to start the University of Chicago, which the university continues to benefit from today.

Students at the University of Chicago have been lobbying the school’s administration to initiate a plan for reparations, as other universities that benefitted from slavery have done. For all these reasons, R3 felt that Stephen A. Douglas’ Tomb and monument in the African American neighborhood of Bronzeville was an appropriate site for our rally against white supremacy and to stand in solidarity with Charlottesville. Slavery was not a benign institution but a bloody system rooted in greed and white supremacy. We live with its brutal legacy. This current political climate has animated that fact. While we cannot erase America’s racist history we can work together to build a better future. Saturday’s action is a part of a national day of action against white supremacy called by the national MAJORITY coalition and the Movement for Black Lives.

NEW SOCIAL JUSTICE COALITION JOINS OTHERS IN DEMANDING THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL INVEST IN PUBLIC EDUCATION IN CHICAGO

The R3 (Resist. Reimagine. Rebuild) Coalition, formed in November of 2016, includes 32 Chicago area grassroots, anti-racist, labor and immigration rights organizations. We came together to forge a shared agenda to fight for social justice in Chicago. Today we lend our support to the Grassroots Education Movement (GEM) and others in making the demand that the City of Chicago make educating our children a priority. We have seen resources go to gentrification schemes and tax breaks for the wealthy, even under the guise of a more progressive agenda. This has to stop.

Today Chicago principals will learn what funds their schools will receive. At the same time, the governor continues to resist giving Chicago Public Schools (CPS) the resources it needs and deserves. What we know is that much more needs to be done to rebuild and reinvigorate our neighborhood schools, and that should be a top priority along with spending on public services for the families of those students. In the wake of systematic disinvestment over many years, our schools are hurting, which means our children are hurting. Our communities still have not fully recovered from the unprecedented closing of 50 schools by the Mayor. This action disproportionately impacted Black and Latinx students in working class neighborhoods throughout Chicago. Our children deserve better. We demand better for them.

Whatever issues we are focused on in our work, public education matters to all of us directly or indirectly. R3 pledges its support to our friends, neighbors and fellow activists on the frontlines of this struggle. We call on the Mayor and City Council to allocate necessary funds to our neighborhood schools and we stand solidly with our dedicated public school teachers who make a difference in the lives of this City’s young people every day.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ARAB AND OTHER COMMUNITIES: U.S. Supreme Court allows parts of the #MuslimBan to go back into effect.

June 26, 2017 – As reported by AP and others, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has decided to hear arguments in October of this year on the #MuslimBan, which had been defeated by the mass movement, and suspended by a number of federal appeals courts. Essentially, today’s decision will allow the travel and refugee bans to go back into effect almost immediately, targeting the nationals of six Muslim-majority countries (Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen), but only for individuals who do not have a “bona fide relationship to a person or entity in the United States.”

We expect that the bans will continue for at least 90 days. Muslim Advocates summarized the decision:

If you are a national of the six countries with plans to travel to the United States, you should consult with an immigration attorney immediately.

If you are a Lawful Permanent Resident (green card holder) or a United States citizen, the travel ban does not apply to you.

If you are a dual national traveling on a passport other than a passport issued by one of the six countries, the travel ban does not apply to you.

If you have a valid visa or other valid entry documents as of the effective date of the Order (which is likely to be within the next 2-3 days), the travel ban does not apply to you.

If you have a connection to the United States, such as a family member in the United States or an affiliation with an institution in the United States, the travel ban should not apply to you.

Certain other persons from the six countries may be able to qualify for a waiver, and should immediately consult with an immigration attorney to determine their eligibility.
Even though this legal summary is helpful and important, we saw the chaos the #MuslimBan caused back in January at O’Hare and all other airports across the country, so the AAAN is advising everyone from the six countries to consult an attorney before leaving from or traveling to the U.S. You can get support from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Right’s hotline at 855-435-7693.

As our friends at Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM) in NY powerfully stated on Facebook, “SCOTUS aligned itself with Trump’s blatantly racist, xenophobic, and Islamophobic agenda, betraying our communities and the thousands who have stood up to defend basic human rights. We have to resist normalization of racist and xenophobic policies, regardless of any court decision.”

We have worked with DRUM and many others across the country and city to resist the #MuslimBan, and NSEERS (“Special Registration”) before that, and we have no choice but to continue our resistance to this decision as well.

Stay tuned to the AAAN on Twitter and Facebook for updates.

#UnityInResistance
#NoBanNoWallNoRaids

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May 1, 2017 – The R3 Coalition Chicago May Day Rally & March were 2 great events in support of racial justice. Here are just a few of the may photos taken by Sarah-Ji of Love & Struggle Photos, Ervin Lopez, and others.